Upon The Horizon
A Mysterious Woman "So, we've seen the world..." Leviathan sighed deeply, as she circled around a certain town. Truth be told, she'd have normally roasted a human and eaten them by now, but Delst certainly was different than the standard "fleshbag". "I had an idea. I know how selfless you are, and yes it does annoy me, but it wouldn't hurt to do the world some good. Let's make a few hundred maps drawn from our past experiences and sell them, so people wouldn't be in danger every time they explore." Delst smiled, considerably warmed to the fact that Leviathan was seeing humans in a better light. "That's all fine and well, Levi, but..." He gestured to her draconian form. "I don't think both you and I can simply waltz into the nearest land over and try to sell maps like this. Humans will react in terror to a dragon." He chuckled, amused, because he could see them running and shrieking. "Even my eyes seem to garner strange looks." "Just say I'm a giant prop animated by magic or something." Leviathan rolled her eyes- people were probably stupid enough to believe that. "Not like it won't work, you know." A look of disapproval crossed Delst's countenance as he shot Leviathan a piercing glare. "Levi, I can't do that. You're my friend and companion, referring to you as a 'prop' doesn't sit right with me, it would be insulting to myself and you, you know that." Leviathan sighed. "You don't really get it, do you? It's okay for me to play the part of a prop if I okay it, dammit. Don't go all mushy on me. Think about it. If we sell maps, not only will fleshbags no longer be lost, but we can make some money out of it. We can use that money for all sorts of things. Like buying fresh sheep." Delst let out an exasperated sigh. "Leviathan, stop being difficult. I don't feel right with it, at all. If you insist on being called a "prop", then I'll just sell the maps solo and come back to wherever you are hiding out of sight." "Fine by me, then." Leviathan huffed; breathing out light which almost devastated the area in front of her. "Just saying, we'd get money by people being attracted to a giant "balloon" dragon." "Are we going to not argue on this or something? It feels like you're just using this to make a quick buck." Delst sighed, as he said, "Never mind, let's just drop it." Leviathan snorted at him, as she turned away, "Fine by me, fleshbag." After a few moments, she turned around, before asking Delst, "Fleshbag...no, Yasuragi, can I ask you a brief question?" Delst raised an eyebrow, perplexed. "You can ask em anything, you know that." "Very well." Leviathan took a deep breath; as she asked, "Would you like me...to change forms, then? Get rid of the scales and fur, and become what I despise so much. A fleshbag like you." Delst frowned. "I didn't know that was even an option." He slid his hand through his hair, breathing slowly. "The way you phrased that question makes it seem like you think I'm dissatisfied with your form, Levi. You know that's not the case. I don't want you to have to change anything about yourself that makes you uncomfortable, we simply cannot just walk into a city like this, due to you being a Dragon." His mind flashed back to the first thing Leviathan had ever shown him — the dragons entirely slaughtered by humans. "Fear and bad memories of the war between humans and dragons still linger, even now. I don't want the humans to try and attack you out of fear. We'll have to slaughter an entire village, and that won't end well. But I don't want to refer to you as my "prop", either." He cast a sharp look at her again. "You are my lifelong companion and friend, and I am happy with you being what you are. I have no intention of asking you to change." "No, that's not it, you idiot." She muttered, quickly turning so typical to her. It seemed that for her hatred of humans, she was pretty darn human herself. "I want to be with you at all times. That's why I'm going to change. Your opinions are unneeded." White light surrounded Leviathan's body, as she began to take upon a significant change... Delst's eyes widened, taken aback by Leviathan taking the initiative. What surprised him more, however, was that she had just said. "I want to be with you at all times." Did she, really? Hearing that made a feeling of elation swell in Delst's heart. Leviathan's form continued to morph- until it had completely been transformed into that of a human's; Levi was now an average woman with long white hair and emerald eyes. She wore a plain white-coloured collar shirt with a small black cape, and long thin black cloth wrapped around the majority of her body. Her look was complete with oversized handcuffs, aqua-coloured shorts, and pink slippers. She looked at her own figure momentarily, snarking, "Seems that the clothes are free too." "L-Levi...?" Delst leaned in, looking her over with eyes wide and mouth agape. "This is...you're human?" Delst was stunned, to say the least. Levi was human now, in a human body. He seemed shocked for a moment, but it didn't take long to relax. "You still smell like a dragon. It's familiar, so it's comforting." "You can say that I don't want the same stench as you PU-mans." Leviathan actually laughed at her own terrible, terrible pun. "Yes, I'm human, flesh and blood. But I still have my laser breath, so don't try anything funny." "Is this only a temporary form?" Delst inquired, ignoring the friendly threat. "Or is this a permanent transformation?" "It's permanent." She continued, "And there's not a thing you can do about it. From here on out, your opinions are rejected." Delst laughed; he was sure he'd heard that somewhere before. "Levi, did you mean what you said? You want to be with me at all times?" Remembering that she had said that once again caused Delst to feel an explainable warmth; he was, dare he say it, happy. "O-Of course I meant it, you idiot. Why else would I do this? Think with that pea-sized brain of yours." Leviathan huffed, crossing her arms as she glanced away, deliberately avoiding eye contact with Delst. Delst's face flushed, if only a bit. Even without being able to remember anything, he was beginning to think he didn't want to. With Leviathan by his side...everything was just as it should be. Delst extended his hand, smiling. "Then we'll stay together. I wouldn't have it any other way." Leviathan persisted in glancing away- though a shade of rosy red did cross her cheeks. "That sounds like a really good idea....fleshba- no, Yasuragi." ---- It was only a few weeks later, when the duo were handing out maps to people in several exploration guilds- as good luck charms. Gratefully accepting the helps of these two kindly strangers, it was soon obvious that from now on, there would no longer be death for the unknowing who ventured Earth Land without any directions. "...While I don't hate this..." Levi sighed. "I wish I could still fly. That way we'd be able to get around easier." "There isn't really anything wrong with walking." Delst said, handing out a map to a couple with a small child. "I have no issues walking everywhere, especially with you at my side. And besides, while flying was nice, I think we get the best feel for the land at ground level. I can take it every detail even better from here." Levi overreacted, pretending to throw a childish tantrum. "But flying takes much less time and I could look upon humans like they were ants..." "You'll have to learn to live with the humans now." Delst said reprovingly. "Our new world won't exactly exclude them, you know." Levi stomped on the ground. While she was still only growing to tolerate (not like) humans, she still didn't approve of them. "It's just a manner of speech. Face it, if you stood on top of a building or something, and looked over at the people below you, wouldn't you feel so superior to those ants? "No." Delst replied, looking at Leviathan with a look of surprise. "I don't feel superior to anyone even now; with the powers I have, anyone probably would." He sighed, and even shuddered slightly. "I don't like the idea of those emotions running wild with me." Leviathan sighed. "Aww, you're no fun. It's just a little joke, take it easy." She didn't really understand why Delst was taking it so seriously. "Sorry, Levi." Delst said. "It's just...I know I am stronger than almost any other human alive. If I were to embrace those kinds of feelings...I could very well become what we're trying to oppose." He shuddered again. "Don't worry about it. I was making a joke, there's no need for this philosophy crap. Besides." She suddenly turned serious. "If you go wacko, I'll blast you until I knock some sense into that thick skull of yours, that's a promise." Delst smiled, reassured at her rather brash gesture of kindness. "Thank you, Levi..." And, while he felt a bit embarrassed to say it, that was another concern. "What if I became corrupted...and hurt Levi..?" Delst didn't want to admit that these thoughts crossed his mind, concealing them with a smile as he passed another map to a passerby. "It's fine, it's fine. Don't get all mushy on me." Levi lightly smacked Delst over the back of the head, in jest. "I hate that sentimental crap." She sighed, "...hmm. Seems that we're out of maps. I'd rather not make any more. I'm just...lazy." One couldn't blame her- it was more that she wasn't yet accomidated to act like a human right now. "Alright, let's go to an amusement park or something. Whatever you humans do to relax. I'm all game for it." She stretched like a...cat? ---- It wasn't long until the duo had immediately stashed what was left of what they were doing and ran off- Leviathan had grabbed Delst's hand and squeezed it tightly, to the point that the man thought that she was deliberately trying to harm him- then again, with Leviathan, nobody could ever tell. "I want some refreshments. Get me some." She ordered like a queen. Delst frowned, taken aback by this kind of speech. While he knew Leviathan was far from humble — in fact, it probably wasn't a word that registered in her vocabulary — she still usually had a bit more tact than this. "Levi, you can't simply order me around, you know? I'll get you something if you want, but it wouldn't hurt to ask properly at the same time." "Jeez, calm your lack of mammaries." Leviathan hissed like a...snake? "It's only required that you go and fetch me some nourishment, as I am the female, and as such I am more important as the producer of eggs." It seemed that she was taking a leaf out of the "logic" of somebody else. Delst sighed in exasperation, unwillingly slipping his hand out of hers — he regretted that, he had enjoyed holding her hand. "Levi, reptilian logic doesn't apply here. You've become a human now, we're equal in this way. I will be happy to get you something if you need it, but you're going to have to learn not to demand it. It's far from kind." "Good for you." Levi kinda stopped paying attention to him. "It's still a form of logic, and unlike some idiots I know who believe otherwise, logic is good for you." "That doesn't make sense. You should at least listen to the opinions of others. Who knows, some of them might be smarter than you." Delst seemed to be getting slightly angry. But not too angry. "Logic is logic." What kind of logic was that? Then again Levi didn't have many options other than 'nuke things with laser breath'. "What." "You heard me." Levi backed up her statement. "This is getting absolutely nowhere, Levi. Stop acting like an immature child with super-powers. You'd do the world some good." Delst just face-palmed at this. -BOOM!- The sound of fires raging and explosions echoed out from a distance. Screams and sirens could be heard as all of a sudden, the two turned around. "...We'll get back to this discussion, significant other!" Levi snapped as she began to run off at full-pelt. "G-get back here, we're not done yet!" Delst snapped, but realised whatever was going on was more important than their petty argument. He dashed off after her, catching up in no time. "You are aware we aren't done yet? The moment this is done, I will probably have to teach you just how manners work." Leviathan sighed, "I'm going to take a leaf out of your book right now. Right now, there's people in danger. Let's focus on that instead of how much more right I am than you." Delst looked at her, his face blank for a moment. And then he smiled, his anger fading. Whether she knew it or not, she was changing. Slowly, but surely, and it was for the better. "You're right." He said. "Let's focus on the issue at hand." "....It seemed out of nowhere, really." While passing numerous people who did naught but just stand there, Leviathan realized that people really needed to stop being bystanders. "You think this is some sort of elaborate trap?" Delst frowned, considering it. "I won't rule it out, but it seems a bit far fetched." He stopped speaking to take in the humans running like a stampede of wildebeest attempting to crush a lion. "We don't know anyone here, and no one knows us, as far as we know. Why would anyone try to trap us?" "Oh, I don't know, it's just a superstition of mine, but something seems to go wrong every now and then when I'm with you, flesh-no, Yasuragi." Leviathan muttered, "While we may not know anyone, somebody is BOUND to attack us out of nowhere." "Point taken." Delst agreed, his eyes on the source of the explosion. "What is this odd feeling?" Amongst the flames, there was a single woman- who possessed glowing purple eyes and she wore a black dress with yellow designs. Her fingernails were painted dark red; possessing black shorts underneath her dress. She also had high-heeled shoes and a jeweled anklet, with a blue feather-like accessory on her right hip. She had a crimson tattoo on her upper back that forms a heart shape inside; while appearing motherly, there was a certain sinister air to her. "Oh, it seems that you noticed. I feel bad about starting fires to catch the attention of wannabe heroes like you. Just a bit." Delst gritted his teeth at this. This entire section of the village had been razed to the ground, and he could see the charred remains of several humans and animals. "You did all of this...for attention?" The last word was nearly a snarl. The woman began to file her nails casually. "You know how it works. Explosion goes off, bait comes to me. It's always worked like that, and I don't know why." Delst's eyes twitched. He didn't even have to think on it; this woman couldn't be reasoned with, and he wouldn't waste time trying. "It's a pity...if you hadn't jumped the gun, I might have tried talking to you." He took a stance, readying himself to strike — and then saw a shadow in the air. "Holy Flare Roar!" A familiar voice called out; as a powerful stream of white light shot down from the heavens- aiming to incinerate the woman in a single blast. Levi had gotten the jump on this woman. "Hah." A pulsating barrier of crimson surrounded the woman's body, completely absolving Leviathan's attack of any dangerous qualities. "Once a stupid lizard with wings, always a stupid lizard with wings." And that was the final straw that broke Delst's already waning patience with this woman. "And like that, my reason to go easy on you vanished!" Delst hissed violently, manifesting a large skeletal hand which formed a flaming sword, and, without any hesitation, swung the blade down upon the woman and her strange barrier. "Collapse." The woman muttered it under her breath- as the barrier had gathered eternano upon it, becoming charged with stray magical energy. In a flash, the barrier expanded into a pulse of light- releasing a powerful shockwave that blew Delst's creation back with ease. The recoil sent Delst skidding across the ground, swinging his head back up to look at the woman in surprise. "What was that? She blew apart my construct...with just a shockwave?" He was starting to regret that he and Levi always wound up meeting opponents that seemed to be far more difficult than they should. Delst stood up, not relaxing his guard and keeping his eyes on the woman. "Who are you? And for a better question, why are you after us?" "There's a good reason. And that's clasified." She quickly replied; noticing that Levi was charging her from the back, the woman twitched slightly- releasing a crimson barrier towards Levi, blowing the humanoid-dragon away, sending her tumbling across the ground. "Levi!" Delst finally turned his attention away from the woman, lunging forward and catching Levi, the force of the impact causing him to tumble a few feet, but she remained safe within his grip. "Levi! Are you alright?" Delst asked in a panic, looking at the seemingly unconscious woman in his arms. Leviathan immediately opened her eyes. "Of course I'm alright. What did you expect? If I can survive a war, I can survive a pissy little barrier smacking into my face." She hopped out of Delst's arms, brushing the dust off of her body casually. "Now, come on!" She beckoned at the woman. The woman turned around, casually remarking, "You do know that I'm not aiming to kill either of you, don't you? That's above me right now." She extended her arms. "Why don't you attack right now?" Delst sighed. "Don't just brush it off like that..." He muttered under his breath. "You might have been injured..." He sighed, knowing better than to express these concerns to her. He stood up, dusting himself off as well. "If she's not using her full power...she's simply toying with us...or, perhaps testing us. But why?" Levi snarked, "Don't tell me what to do." As she stood to her feet, the humanoid-dragon charged white light within her hands, before dashing forward and swinging at the woman wildly; however, she was easily repulsed back as the woman snapped her fingers- causing an invisible force to send her flying. Delst, once again, leapt up and caught Levi like a football, tumbling across the ground once more. "Levi, stop running in full tilt. We need to think up a strategy, and going in blind isn't the best one." "I was never one for thinking." Levi snapped back- urging him to, "You think of something for both of us. I'm going to blast her until I get a god-damn opening!" She charged up white light within her feet- rushing forward, Levi swung her foot straight at the woman in a sliding kick...however, the woman vanished in the blink of an eye, reappearing right behind her foe. However, she just stood there instead of doing something, just to taunt her. Delst extended a skeletal hand quickly, however, they passed up the strange woman, snatching Leviathan and dragging her back to his side, letting her down. "If you want me to think of a plan, stop running in like a blind dog." He sighed. "I have an idea, but it's a long shot. Did you pay any attention to what she said earlier?" "I forgot already." She sighed. "S'not like I have a good memory, dammit!" Leviathan was...surprisingly dim. The woman, amusingly, began to file her nails. "We can take a ten minute break for you two lovebirds to think of something. I've got all the time in the world." Delst ignored her, and kept his voice low so that only Levi would be able to hear him. "She said she isn't aiming to kill either of us. Which means she's either toying with us out of sheer boredom — which I find hard to believe — or she's testing us, for some reason." He realised just stating all of this simply opened up more questions, but that's what all this was, one giant question. "This actually leads me to believe she's working with...someone or something. Someone or something that is very much aware of our existence, and probably even our goals." "...Why is it always that people are in an evil organization and are out for our blood? It's just that this happens a lot..." Leviathan let out a deep sigh. "I bloody hope that soon y'all just leave us be. Not like we did anything to yous." The woman cracked her neck. "In a sense that's true. It's what you WILL do eventually that will shake us to our core." Delst sighed in suppressed frustration. "I think that about confirms it..." How did this woman know? Who was she working for? He would have assumed the Phoenix Knight, but Leviathan put too much stock into that woman's reputation for her to be a turncoat like this. "Then again, Levi isn't the sharpest tool in the box...' He thought, sighing. "Levi, you're going to have to work with me now, alright?" He kept his voice low once more, so that only she could hear. "None of our attacks are working, individually. Let's try to combine our power, and perhaps we can break her defences." "Gotcha." Leviathan charged up white light within her mouth..."Holy Flame..." The woman just sat there. "I'm waiting. I can just sit here all day." Delst manifested his sword, and began to channel his energy into the blade, causing it to vibrate and glow with awe-inspiring power. "By all means, continue waiting there. We'll come to you." And with that, Delst swung his blade to his side, slicing the air in front of Levi's developing energy sphere. The effect was instant; the slash cut the fabric of space, creating a swirling wormhole that twisted and writhed in the air before Levi. "LEVI, NOW!" "Roar!" Leviathan unleashed that massive surge of white light from her maw, as it transported through the wormhole...and right into the woman's face. "Guh." In an instant, the woman was blown back from sheer explosive force- though interestingly, she didn't seem to move much, other than the obligatory few feet. "Not bad." She clutched her left arm- which seemed to have been torn from the impact of the blast. "And there's my door!" Delst noted, not missing the injury to her person. Within seconds, he leapt into the portal himself, and before anyone noticed it, appeared in front of the woman, thrusting his katana straight towards her heart without a second of hesitation. "...Door-darnit." The woman snarked in a low tone- while she had managed to manifest a crimson barrier to defend her heart, the katana was too fast- but despite this, it had only left a small cut on her body. Stepping back, all of a sudden, the woman thrust her hand forward swiftly, releasing a blast of pure concussive force with the ill intent of blowing Delst straight away. "Umpfh!" Delst's cry was muffled by the blast that lifted him off his feet, sending him hurtling even past Levi, colliding with the remains of one of the village houses. By this point, the wormhole he'd created had closed. "She's...she's good..." He thought weakly, his body resting against the rubble. "Oh, calm down, Esper." The woman made a sarcastic 'oh you' jesture towards him. "We can end this right now. I've come for what I wanted. Shame you won't be around to see it." "Just because...you simply got what you needed...it doesn't mean I'll let you walk away." Delst struggled to his feet, glaring at this woman, his eyes blazing with the spirit to continue this battle. "I don't know what you mean by 'Esper'...and frankly, it's not on the top of things I want to know." He clapped his hands together, breathing in, pulling the life energy that remained in this area into his body, and his wounds began to patch themselves up, skin sewing like it was cloth. He then began to focus on the nudging in the back of his head, a voice that was beckoning to him, calling out for his attention. A large circle of blue flames erupted around him, before shooting into the air, forming into the now familiar cloaked visage of his demon. Delst began to pace his breathing; preparing himself for the next step. The Power Of an Esper Delst bent his fingers forward, twisting one hand downward, as if breaking apart an object that no one could see; instantly, the demon split into thousands of glowing ribbons, which descended upon Delst, encasing him in their light, obscuring him from view. The ribbons clung to his body, and began to take form, expanding upon his body, and first, ethereal, scale-like plated armor over his body, similar in design to the four-arms of the demon, as well as encasing his face in a tengu-like mask, complete with an elongated, beak-like nose, the mask then closing his face, obscuring it from view. Lastly, the strange, hood from the demon formed over his head, billowing backwards, flapping in the wind as the pillbox-like adornment manifested in the center. "Demon Entity: Level 2 — Avatar of Hades." "Interesting." The woman sneered; as she snapped her fingers- as a Dromaeosaurid; which was a small to medium-sized dinosaur, about 0.7 metres (2.3 ft) in length, with a long tail manifested on her arm. "Now, Rumbling Fusion." A surge of crimson magical energy surrounded her entire figure- she ended up standing head-and-shoulders over both of them as she had become a terrifying image, her upper and lower body separated by jaws of death. Within the jaws and seemingly holding her form together, was a large dark vortex which continually spewed dark matter in smoke form. Some of this smoke formed the tail of her helmet and the rest simply orbitted her chest. Her right hand became greatly inflamed and swollen, with only three fingers- and she also possessed three large dragon tails. The center of her chest armour and the back of her hands had red eyes embedded in them. Her right arm was covered in diamond armour, and the rest of her body sported diamond tentacles. The exoskeleton breastplate was composed of diamond and much less rigid, and was connected by two blade-like diamond extensions outside of the high collar. A great spine erupts from her helmet as she manifested a giant blade. "I've been holding this back." Delst didn't seem surprised; in fact, he'd expected she wouldn't just remain defenseless. He extended a hand, gathering the Eterano in the air, compressing and molding it until it became a blade of blue flame, similar to the one wielded by his demon, and began to take a stance, grinding his feet into the dirt. And then, like a rocket, Delst achieved lift-off, propelling himself towards the woman, swinging his sword towards her head as he closed the distance within seconds. In his wake, the entire ground exploded with the force of his new power, leaving a large crater that erased the remainder of the village behind him. "Wow, rude." The woman let out a sigh; pointing out, "You DO know that people could have been in that village, right?" It was odd that a "villain" like that her would say such things. However, her enormous weapon of crimson had managed to deflect Delst's strike with a bit of trouble, as the two clashing caused a resonance of magical energy. Underneath them, the ground began to crack apart and break, ripping upwards, uprooting trees, and even forcing the remains of the fallen houses as as the simply clash of blades forced this much pressure onto the land. Delst's eyes flickered from inside the tengu mask. "Everyone in this village has either fled or been killed." He reminded her shortly. "You, the cause of that, should know better than anyone else, and have no right to reprimand me!" He pushed forward, putting all his weight into the thrust of his sword, pushing the woman back, once again destroying the ground under his own power. Delst quickly followed however, swinging the blade at the woman's now moving figure. -SWISH!- A sharp sound resounded throughout the air. The twin blades brushed up against each other once more; as the woman's sword and Delst's own crackled with pure magical power. However..."Armament Secret Art!" With a single command, the sword morphed- becoming stronger and wider, she used it as an inpromptu shield as Levi launched a blast of white light towards her. Delst kept his eyes locked on the woman as her blade deflected the white blast shot by Levi, his mind racing. And then something caught his eye — an eye, in the center of the blade, swiveling around madly as the attack died down, before its movements slowed and it became motionless again. "That eye..." He took a stance, raising his blade to level beside him. "That may very well be the key..." Delst lunged forward, taking advantage of her defensive posture as well as the reaction time it would take for her to respond, trusting the ethereal blade directly towards the eye. Suddenly, the blade morphed once more- this time changing into a crimson axe- the eye relocated to a different position. "Do you know what my power is?" She swung around, before slashing away at Delst violently with the weapon. Delst reacted instinctively, leaning to the left as the axe swung over him, and proceeding to twist his body in various directions to dodge the axe, before leaping backwards to gain a distance for a moment of breath. "So I was right..." He thought to himself, noting the eye had now moved to the handle of the axe; certainly a much more difficult location to land a clean hit on. "No, I can't say I do." He said slowly. He may have seen it before, when he had his memories, but right now, it was new to him. "Too bad for you, then." The woman sneered- before adding, "Only an idiot would explain their powers in a battle." She suddenly ceased attacking. "If you want to, you can just leave. I'll leave too. I don't really need to fight anymore. This is just stupid." Delst sighed. He hadn't expected her to explain her powers. Neither of them were stopping to give the opponent critical information; certainly no one was that stupid, right? He took stance, raising his sword to his side. "I told you. I won't simply let you walk away." He raised his blade up into the air, breathing deeply as he began to gather not eterano, but the very life energy of the landscape. The remaining trees began to wither, the grass wilted, animals which lent their energy began to stop and rest, all of it flew towards, and merged with, Delst's blade, which itself began to change. While retaining its ethereal form, its guard began to grow longer, and jagged, encasing Delst's hand, wrist, and upper arm. The blade lengthed, and like the guard, began to jut out in various areas, appearing almost saw-like as opposed to a proper sword. It also increased immensely in side, wide enough to serve as a shield, and it even became taller than Delst himself. "You are a threat, it's as simple as that." He said slowly, raising the weapon to his side. "I can tell that, if I leave you alone, you, and those you work with, will bring ruin to this world. I have to prevent that, at all costs. I'm not letting you walk away." The blade began to become enveloped in spiraling blue energy. "Stop wasting your energy." The woman sighed. "There's absolutely no reason for this 'fight' to continue." Leviathan all of a sudden ran up to Delst and grabbed him by the arm. "You can't defeat this bitch, you know. Nothing we do seems to be working. Let's just high-tail it out of here." She was awfully insistent on this. Delst looked at Levi incredulously, though through the mask she couldn't see it. "Levi...you know what will happen if we let her go? Letting her go now only prolongs the inevitable!" The woman stood up and just shut him up. "Look, I'm not going to do anything with the damn data. My boss needs it, and whatever he does with it is none of my concern. Don't worry, it won't even affect you two. So go on, get outta here." She brushed them off like one would a fly. Delst frowned. He was getting extremely conflicting vibes from this woman; at one minute, she seemed like a threat, now, she seemed like she didn't care at all. Was he falling for an act? He sighed, and his weapon vanished as armor began to glow once more, splitting into thousands of ribbons which then proceeded to vanish. "Levi, I..." Delst couldn't finish his sentence however, as he then collapsed into the white-haired woman's arms, exhauasted. As the mysterious woman vanished in the blink of an eye, Leviathan reassured Delst, "It's going to be fine." as she ran her hand through his hair. "Besides, she can't hurt us now." "I know..." Delst sighed, breathing slow. He reached up slowly, touching her face, and smiling. "Tell you what...I'll get you that drink now..." Leviathan smiled subtly. "You are MY human, and you know that as long as I'm around you won't fall." All of a sudden, the dragon-turned-human leaned in, planting a kiss on Delst's lips before backing up hastily, as if denying something. Delst smiled, bringing his face up to hers, responding to her kiss briefly with one of his own. "That brings me more reassurance than you know, Levi, to have you with me. I promise as well, as long as I am here, you will be safe." He stood up, and took a breath. "I suppose all that's left now...is to use the Arc." Levi hopped up; seeming to levitate momentarily as she landed upon the ground. "Creating a new world from absolutely nothing...this'll be interesting. Remember, to keep stuff like Varian out of it!" Delst sighed, the visage of that dark creature coming into his mind perfectly. "I know. Humans are selfish and will trample on the weak if it benefits them...I've learned that well." He clasped his hands together. "However, the diamonds in the rough...I'll provide a home for them all." Delst took a breath. "Levi, have you ever heard of something called the Source?" "Nope." Leviathan bluntly replied. Fair enough; as all she really took into consideration was the dragons and their own problems and terms. "Whassat?" "From what it's told me, the Source of Magic is a 'river' that flows through the known universe. This dimension, other dimensions, all are connected through the Source, and they all rely on the Source's continued existence to thrive." He paused, trying to think of a decent comparison. "Look at it as the lifeblood of the universe, the Source as the blood and it's flow as the blood vessels which carry it." To help with this, he waved his hand, conjuring a large, holographic globe the size of a beach ball, and, clearly visible within the Earth were thousands of thin, glowing lines weaving their way throughout all of creation. "The Source of Magic itself is composed of the 'past' of this world; everything that ever lived at one point makes up the Source, their memories, their souls, their magical energies all reside within this flow of magic. When a new life is born, the Source blesses them with a small fragment of its power, which, in conjunction with magical energy naturally found in the body, is the source of power used by Mages. When we die, our souls, energies, and memories are claimed by the Source; we exist eternally within the Source, and without it, magic as we know it cannot exist." "So it's like a stream of life and magic?" Leviathan summarized that rather accurately. "That's the most outlandish thing I've heard." Says the woman who ate humans and used to be a giant wizard with wings. "But why tell me this?" "Because, weren't you wondering exactly how I would create an entire world?" Delst asked, surprised she actually hadn't brought it up. "I am, after all, just one person. But to cut to the point. I've learned that I can draw on the full power of the Source; the energy that flows in the world is mine to wield, and I will use it to craft our new world." "Interesting, interesting!" Leviathan applauded; before continuing, "I'm pretty sure that if others knew that you could wield that power they'd be pretty mad, though. Keep it between us." "Naturally." Delst waved his hands, his eyes beginning to glow, and he summoned bright blue and red flames in each. He closed his eyes and began to craft images in his mind. Images of the world he'd seen here. The beauty of life; lakes, lush green forests, grasslands, tall mountain ranges. Everything that was beautiful about this world, he began to send these to the Source, and, with it's help, proceeded to mold this creation into existence, using Earth Land as the necessary template and anchoring this world, an alternate dimension, onto Earth Land. The process was long and strenuous, but it was soon completed, and Delst fell to his knees, exhausted. Levi scurried over to Delst, trying to help him up. "....Don't tell me that almost killed you? I know you can survive something as minor as that, Yasuragi." Delst sighed deeply, wobbling to his feet. "I just created an entire new dimension...and you expect me to be moving around like I'm well rested?" He asked her incredulously. "But enough for now...let's go...into this new world." END